Normal Girls Don't Love Vampires
by blondeexxxlovesxxxparamore
Summary: Raven is half vampire half human. Aiden is sent to kill her. Will he be able to kill her?
1. Chapter 1

~Raven's POV~

There were three of them. New boys who endangered the hearts of most of the girls in my high school. I watched in boredom while all of the girls in my class sighed and giggled and gossiped about how cute they were. the whole thing disgusted me. High school should be banned. I mean all it is is putting a bunch of hormonal teenagers of the opposite sex in the same building. Can anyone else spot a bad idea when they see one? Because i can. And high school seems like a bad plan.

"Raven will show you around. Raven?" I hate my name. My parents decided it would be cute to name me after my jet black hair. Raven colored hair. Raven. How cute. I hate cute. But i could hardly argue with them when i couldn't even talk. So here I am. Raven Sullivan.

"Of course Mrs. Reed. Follow me, boys. I hope you like it here." I smile as we walk out of the door. It takes everything in me not to slam it behind me.

"So, Raven..."

"You call me Raven again, you die. Its Ray."

"Ok. Ray. I'm Aiden, this is Cayden, and this is Ludin." I shake hands with all of them. Maybe I could be friends with them. Of course, that was as far as i would go. Friends were fine. But boyfriends? i don't think so.

I showed them the school... really slowly. I gratefully finished showing them after the bell rang. Thank God! English was over. We walked to Chemistry together. Turns out, we had a lot of classes together. They had all AP classes, just like me. We sat down as Mr. Louvre (aka Mr. Museum) walked in and took his seat.

I was really just dozing. The teacher called on me to answer a question suddenly. I was jolted out of my state when he called my name. "Ray? What is the lightest element?"

"Helium." I stated without hesitation. That was so basic. Mr. Museum was cool. He let me zone out as long as I answered when he called on me and did the work. He usually didn't call on me very often. he knew I would get it right. He liked to call on the people who might get it wrong. Not for cruelty or anything, just o make sure they were paying attention.

The bell rang and I bolted out of the room. I loved Mr. Museum, but chemistry bored me to tears. Give me a break. Who cares if you can make a fancy potion thing? It really has no appeal to me.

I walked into my next class and sat down. Art. I loved art. It was my escape. I sat down in my usual spot: next to my best friend in the corner. My best friend. Car. I love her to death. Her full name is Caramel. Her parents played the same sick joke on her by naming her after her now famous among the school caramel colored complexion. Caramel skin. Caramel. How cute. We both agree that cute should burn in hell.

Aiden walked in and sat in the other corner. When the next person walked in, I remembered why art wasn't my favorite class. My sister. My nightmare of a sister. How do i describe my sister in only a few words? Satan? Dumb blonde? Cheerleading captain? Prep? Satan. Let's start with Satan.

Satan was my nickname for her. Not to her face, of course. Our parents would kill me. But behind her back, it's definitely stuck. I call her that anywhere but to her and my parents' faces. She had blond hair. I was the only one with black hair in my family. I really hoped that that meant I was adopted. Our parents played the same joke on her. But she actually liked her name. With bright blond hair, they named her Peach. like the princess in Mario Brothers. It definitely fits her personality. She's a spoiled princess. But I don't call her PEach. Satan fits her more.

To her face, I called her Dumbo. She just connected it with the movie and giggled. My parents knew better, but as long as their little angel wasn't insulted, everything went by smoothly. Satan behind her back and Dumbo yo her face. It worked. No one got in trouble. My parents; little angel remained bubbly as ever. Yep. Their little angel. I was the devil child. This was only because I didn't have the wishes they wanted me to have. They wanted me to have normal wishes: popularity and boys. No one wants to get into college today! What's wrong with you!

honestly, I see no point in popularity or boys. they don't last. Whereas getting into a god college and getting a good job, that lasts for quite a while. Normality was so dumb. My parents and my sister didn't agree. So i was cast out as the devil child and my sister was put in the place of their little angel. If you asked me, normal wishes were a disease. My entire family was infected.

After art, I get to go to my other escape, Music. I sit in between Cayden and Car. I thought I ws going to puke while they flirted with each other! Best friend! No! Defensive mode kicked in. "You can't have her."

"Why?" they asked in unison.

"Because she's my best friend. No. Bad boy. Sit. Stay." They both started laughing at my analogy to a dog and everything eased up. After that, they didn't flirt. Or, at least, Cayden didn't flirt back. Car was a force of nature that could not be stopped. I sighed. In my family, Car would fit in just fine. She's really lucky she's not a prep, or I would have ditched her a long time ago. The only thing normal about her was that she liked boys. Other than that, she was just as abnormal as me. I would die without her.

Car finally gave up and sank into her seat. I laughed a bit at her. Class was really boring. Honestly, who cares how many symphonies Mozart wrote? I just want to learn how to play the piano. that's why I signed up for the class in the first place. wanted to play the piano, Car wanted to play the guitar. Could we just get a teacher who could actually teach?

Cayden smiled at me and escorted me to my next class. He was in it too, so it wasn't like he was going out of his way. No Car in this class. Sigh. So I sat with the new boys instead. It was interesting. I swore they could read each other's minds! It was scary! They kept finishing each others sentences and all of that stuff. Scary. They even finished a few of mine and I had barely met them! No way!

By the end of the class, it had somehow been established that they would sit with me at lunch. I wasn't sure when. My head was spinning by the end of the class. But it worked our ok. Although I wasn't used to such a large crowd of girls hanging around our lunch table. Now we had a crowd of boys trying to get to Car and me, and a crowd of girls trying to get to the boys. Too much! By the end of lunch, I was choking with all of the re-used air. Need fresh air!

I got home and collapsed on the couch. The rest of the day had ben pretty boring. The boys kept finishing everyone else's sentences/ I was amazed every time.

They were so different. Aiden was definitely more of the "bad boy" type. he seemed really cool. He didn't care what others thought. Just like me.

Then there was Cayden. Total good boy. Roll over boy. Sit boy. Good Cayden! The kind that will jump through hoops to get some praise and maybe some treats.

Then there was Ludin. The pretty boy of the group. I almost spat out all of my milk when I saw the way he reacted to the girls. That wasn't good. If things worked out the way I knew they would, he would be my sister's arm candy by the end of the week. I narrowed my eyes. She couldn't have him. He was too cool to be with a skank like her!

I sighed and laid down on my bed to go to sleep. I really couldn't sleep, though. I knew I wouldn't be able to. I was too thoughtful right now. I was pondering about the new boys. They were so different from everyone else I knew. Something was off with them. Something different. I let it go and finally went to sleep. Tomorrow was going to suck. I wasn't going to get much sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

~Aiden's POV ~

"Yes, Father. I understand."

"You'll feel drawn to her. It will be very difficult to kill her. The quicker you kill her, the easier it will be."

"Yes Father. i understand." I was sent to kill her. She was half vampire. It was forbidden to be half vampire and half human. Her parents had finally been tracked down and killed. But she had been adopted. So it took another month to track her down. There were many problems with this mission. Way too many risks. But my father was sending me anyways.

The first risk was the one my father kept warning me about. And the one I kept denying would happen. Vampires are physically drawn to half vampires. It's very difficult to kill one once you look upon its face. Many vampires had died at the hands of my father because they failed to kill a half vampire. He felt the pull too. That's why he never looked upon their faces. He was much smarter than the people he sent. He knew not to look.

The second risk was that half vampires somehoware stronger than vampires. They have all of our abilities multiplied, without the hinderance of having to drink blood. They could drink blood, but unlike us they did not need it to survive.

The third risk was the one I was worried about. The third risk with this mission was losing the crown. I was the prince. I thought it very strange that my father would send the prince to kill a half vampire. Perhaps he trusted me to be smart like he was. But the point was that by sending me, my father was risking the entire vampire kingdom's government. Just to kill her. It seemed awfully difficult to imagine a reason why my father would do this. But I trusted him. So I went.

I should have listened to my father more carefully. As soon as the teacher called HER name to show me and my two friends my father had allowed to come around, i knew that there was a complication. It would look strange not to look upon her face at all. And as soon as I did, there was no knowing what would happen.

The pull I felt drawing me towards her was not only binding physically, but emotionally. I felt dedicated to her suddenly. I felt like i would risk my life for her. A spell of some kind that all half vampires cast upon all vampires. I had assumed I would be able to break it. I was sorely mistaken.

What made me angry, though, was that Cayden and Ludin felt the pull too. And they were my friends. I couldn't order them to stay away. As soon as I felt the rivalry building up within us, I knew the truth of what was to come. The entire kingdom was going to fall apart over her, wasn't it?

You must understand that most half vampires are killed long before they begin to develop vampire tendencies. They still produce the "spell," but their actual vampire genes don't emerge until they turn about seventeen. Raven would turn seventeen in a month. Not if my father could help it. But if I could help it she would. I was willing to go up against my own father for her. The spell she cast over us was even more powerful than i had imagined.

All three of us felt the rivalry and knew what was going to happen. She was going to test our friendship, and most likely our kingdom, to the limit. Unknowingly.

That was the worst part. She didn't know the chaos she had caused simply by being born. She didn't know the chaos I had caused simply by allowing myself to look at her face. She had no idea that by letting me look at her, we had jeapordised the entire vampire kingdom. She had no idea that my father's rage against her was inevitable.

We went through the day mostly like every other day. We seemed to purposefully make it too obvious for comfort that something was off about us. We would go to any lengths to impress her. Yes. The spell was powerful. And it had taken ahold of all three of us. We would burn down the entire school if she asked us to.

I felt myself feeling cursed. i wish i could break the spell. i was supposed to kill her. I couldn't do that while under the spell. i knew that now. Every moment I was with her, the spell got stronger. It choked me. I couldn't breathe, couldn't sleep, couldn't do anything without her name crossing through my mind. I shivered. I had always wondered why my father banned half vampires. Now I knew. They would jeapordise the entire kingdom. A simple look upon the face and our entire kingdom was most likely going to fall apart. What had I done?

She was a Senior when we came. She was fascinating. She chose not to pursue boys, despite their obvious pursuits of her. She chose to be as extraordinary as possible despite her adopted parents' obvious attempts at normaility. She was an outsider to the world. by choice, though. That was what made her fascinating. She chose all of this. And now I chose to look upon her face despite the emminent doom it brought my kingdom.

Her name was Raven Sullivan. She seemed like an ordinary girl. A rebel, yes, but normal still. You would never expect her to be a half vampire. You would never expect her to throw the entire vampire kingdom into turmoil. And you would never expect for the vampire prince to fall madly in love with her even though he was sent to kill her by the king. These things aren't the sort of things you expect...


	3. Chapter 3

~Raven's POV~

Dinner was unimaginably had just gained what I had predicted: Ludin was her boyfriend. "A model boyfriend, I say."

"Yes. So wonderful. Tell us about him."

"He is so HOT! It should be illegal to be that hot. I mean..." I wanted to gag. I walked away from the table without asking to be excused. I knew that they would say no. Dinner is family time and all that. But they aren't my family. Sure, they raised me. Sure, they gave birth to me. But they weren't my family. I had no family. Family was a group who loved you and cared for you and didn't judge you. I wasn't so lucky to have that.

My phone rang. I looked at it and sighed. Car. I loved her, but sometimes I'd like to drive her off of a cliff. Haha joke about her nickname! Ok, so that was pretty low, but I was annoyed. I didn't need any more boy-crazy girls in my life. "Yes, Car?"

"Can you believe Satan and Ludin are together? I find it disgusting that Ludin would sink to that level."

"Tell me about it. She's been talking about it all throughout dinner."

"Oh! You're eating? Sorry."

"No. I'm not eating. I lost my appetite after the eighteenth mention of how hot Ludin is." Car barked her laughter at me from the other line. I almost rolled my eyes, but stopped myself. Even over the phone, she would know it. She was psychic when it came to people rolling their eyes.

I knew way too many psychics for comfort. Car was paychic about people's facial expressions, the new boys were REALLY psychic when it came to what people were going to say, my teacher were psychic about what was going to bore me the most, too much. Really. It was getting really annoying. the only thing I seemed to be psychic about was knowing when a guy was going to ask me out before they finished the question. And that was written all over their body language and their face. Not very impressive. I'm the only one who doesn't have a cool psychic ability.

"Oh! I gots to go, Ray. See you at school tomorrow."

"See ya." Not a second after we hung up, the phone rang again. It was Ludin. Now he was psychic about when to call, too! jesus, was there nothing these boys couldn't do? "Hello?"

"I'm going to murder your sister. Would you have any remorse?"

"Hell no. But why would you murder her if you're dating her?"

"I'm only dating her because she is the most persistant girl I have ever met."

"She's used to being chased, not the other way around. Rejection is not an option for her."

"Well, I don't see why she chose me to attack anyways."

"You're the pretty boy."

"Come again?"

"Aiden's the bad boy, Cayden's the good boy, and you're the pretty boy. Satan..."

"_Your sister _likes the pretty boys, eh?"

"I swear to God! Will you ever let me finish..."

"No. No I won't." He started laughing as I fumbled through my mind for something clever to say. I sighed and collapsed onto my bed. It didn't matter how clever it was, he would know what I was going to say before I could finish saying it, anyways.

"You anger me so..."

"I know. I really should work on that."

"Would you..."

"Nope. I find this very amusing." Stupid psychics. I hate psychics. They need to go invade someone else's mind for a change.

"I'm going to..."

"Yeah. your teachers will kill you if you turn in another late assignment."

"Wha- how- you- ugh!" I shut my phone and threw it roughly onto the other side of the bed. I knew way too many psychics for my own good.

I had only known the boys for a week and it felt like I had known them all my life. Car, the boys, and I just meshed together. We fit so perfectly. There wasn't any conflict within our little bubble.

Outside of our bubble was a different story. It was a freaking soap opera, I swear to God. There was the Ludin vs. his new girlfriend thing, the Ricky bugging me non-stop to go on a date with him thing, the I want to punch Satan thing (although that's pretty much a constant, so it doesn't exactly count), the Cayden being the most innocent being I've ever known mixed in with a school full of tainted minds thing, and the Aiden shunned society, but they didn't shun him back thing. Things outside our bubble were eventful. But inside our bubble, things were perfect.

My birthday party plans were beginning. My parents pretty much had me plan everything. It was difficult. It was all made more difficult by the fact that Satan went on a shopping trip with their credit cards every weekend, but I didn't get a penny even for my birthday plans. It sucked.

My parents were acting completely different towards me. They kept over shooting everything they told me. They kept anticipating a reaction much worse than the one I gave. It was like they were preparing for some bigger news. maybe I was moving to Australia to be with some obscure part of the family. That would be nice. Maybe they wouldn't be so horrifyingly normal.

"Sweetheart, I think it's time we tell you something." It was nine o clock. What in the world was so important that they would lose some of their precious beauty sleep over it?"

"What?" I grumbled. This better be good.

"This is a bit... unexpected. We want you to remain completely calm, ok?"

"Ok." I rolled my eyes. that's what they had said the last time. The last time the news was 'you don't get to have personal DJ at your party like yu wanted' and I had expected that from the beginning.

"Sweetheart, you're adopted." I froze. I was adopted? i had always dreamed them saying that to me. Why the hell did they not mention it sooner?

"Why didn't you mention it before?"

"Because we didn't want you to search for your real parents."

"And why are you telling me now?"

"Look, we didn't want you to search for them for your own protection. They were very specific that it was dangerous for you to be near them. We..."

"Why won't it be a problem?"

"Well..." My 'mother' stopped short. She couldn't finish. My 'father' took it over from there.

"Well, sweetheart, your parents are... dead." Dead? They couldn't be dead! i was finally adopted and I couldn't even track them down and live happily ever after? You've got to be kidding me.

"Dead?"

"Dead. I'm sorry, Raven." I wasn't affected at all by my 'father's' sorry's. It didn't matter what he said. It was what I had learned that mattered. i was numb to my surroundings. this meant I wouldn't get my happily ever after. I had the evil step mother and stepsister. There would under no circumstances be a prince charming,. I was planning to replace him with a mother. A real mother. But apparently that was not available to me. My life sucked.

"Raven, honey?" My 'mother' asking if I was ok was the last thing I heard before my vision faded and I blacked out.


	4. Chapter 4

~Ludin's POV~

I had a girlfriend. And she was my worst nightmare. She was pretty, sure. She was preppy and bubbly, just like I liked them. But she didn't matter. The only reason her persistance even won was because if I dated her, I could go to her house. If I was at her house, I could be with Ray. Raywas what mattered.

But I wouldn't get the chance. Sure, it was ray's choice, but there were only two options really available to her. Aiden or no one. Cayden and I were not exactly allowed to go up against the vampire prince. It didn't matter if we were friends, the pull was strong enough for Aiden to pull his authority although he hadn't done that since we met. And we all knew it. She was going to be the death of me, I swear.

I sat up. Something had changed. Something with ray had changed. All of our abilities had been centered around ray since we met her. they could still be used for others, but they picked up on ray instinctually. Something had changed with Ray. And it didn't feel good.

I was at her house within a minute. I found that Aiden and Cayden had already arrived. "What happened?"

"It would seem she fainted."

"What? Ray faint? Why?"

"They told her about her parents."

"How... How much about her parents?" Aiden grimaced.

"They told her they're dead." I tensed up immediately. We had all seen into Ray's mind. We all knew just how much she had wished that she could have another family. We all knew just how much of a blow this would deliver to her stability. She was already pretty unstable.

"Fuck."

"My thoughts exactly." We all laughed slightly. We all knew that those were his thoughts. It was a funny joke. And normally it would work. But right now, we couldn't stop worrying about her. She had consumed our lives.

We all heard her gasp and were by her window in an instant. We frowned. She was still sleeping. "No! Get away! I don't... I can't... No. You can't take me." We frowned. We couldn't see into someone's mind when they were sleeping. It was a gaping hole in our abilities that no one could explain and we all desperately wished would disappear right now. We needed to know how to help her. We felt helpless.

"No! I'm not! Human! I'm completely, one-hundred percent..." The rest was unintelligible. We all sighed. Her dreams were already beginning to communicate with her. Her birthday wasn't too far away. Her doom, most likely, was even closer than her birthday. We all pondered this girl who had completely changed our lives without knowing it. She was used to guys wanting her. We weren't used to wanting girls, though. She had no idea.

We all went back to our California house. I pinched my nose in disgust. It smelled so dusty. I hadn't smelled dust in a place I was to sleep in since I was born. Our noses were too sensitive to dust to let us sleep under such conditions. Everything was really much more resembling poverty than I had ever seen. I couldn't even imagine how Aiden felt. He had lived in even more luxury than I had. He seemed to be getting paler than usual. All of that dust was really affecting him.

~Aiden's POV~

Ray fainted. Ray did. The news had crushed her, although only a vampire would know that. Ray was a master at hiding emotions. She was even better at hiding emotions than a vampire was. Everything about her seemed extroardinary. Cayden and Ludin kept their distance, thankfully. Of course, I did too. I was terrified of her. She didn't like boys. I was probably no exception. And her rejection would tear me apart.

What terrified me even more was how she affected me. She could change my entire outlook on the day just by smiling or frowning. If she was unhappy, I was unhapy. If she was happy, I was happy. Everything I felt depended on her. The spell was much too powerful to try to ignore. It scared the hell out of me. I couldn't decide whether my feelings were real or fake. I was so confused.

I looked at Ray as she walked towards the table. She looked a lot better than right after she fainted, of course. She had hidden all of those emotions away until the best time to release them. And then, under all of the anger, there was the burning confusion. The dreams. they were haunting her. Quite honestly, they were haunting Cayden, Ludin, and I as well. It confirmed what we already knew. It confirmed that she was a half vampire. It confirmed that she had to die.

I smiled at her. Ludin was over with the cheerleader sitting dismally with Satan (ray's nickname for her caught on fast for me. It fits), Car had detention, and Cayden had some club to go to. It was just Ray and me. Not for long.

"Hey, Ray. I can't help but notice that you're sitting alone." Ricky pointedly ignored my presence. I gritted my teeth. Ricky was a complete asshole. He was pathetic when it came to ray. He never gave up.

"Actually, I'm sitting with someone much more important than you so go away."

"Ouch. I'll take that as an invitation for a debate." With that, he sat down next to Ray. Both Ray and I clenched and unclenched our fists, begging for a chance to use them and pummel the jerk. But we would wait. we needed a reason first.

"Go away, Ricky."

"No. I don't think I will."

"Fine, then. I guess I will." With that, Ray threw away the rest of her lunch and walked out of the cafeteria. All eyes were on her as she walked out. Ludin and I both got up to go after her.

"What are you doing, Ludin? My sister can take care of herself." Ludin mumbled death threats and murder plans under his breath while he sat back down and let me go after her.

"Go away, Aiden. I really can not deal with people right now." I took a step towards her and she turned on me. "I said go away! God! Why can't anyone understand that I just want them to go away?" I sighed. I had to calm her down. If she didn't calm down, she would start developing the powers that would lead to her death. It was going to be a long day.


	5. Chapter 5

~Ray's POV~

I couldn't believe Ricky. That asshole! He really needed to get a life. For once, I just wanted to be left alone. Completely. Of course, I rarely got what I wanted. Aiden was by my side in no time. "Calm down, Ray. You have to calm down."

"Why? Why do I have to calm down? I just want to be left alone for once! I just want to..."

"Calm down, Ray. You really don't understand. You have to." I paused. Aiden sounded desperate to get me to calm down. What was going on? I didn't get it.

"I don't get it. Why is it so important that I calm down?"

He stared at me. He seemed to be struggling with himself. Like there was a secret on the tip of his toungue. His eyes seemed to show his despair and I knew. He couldn't tell me. I didn't know why, but he couldn't. I nodded once and walked away, leaving him to sink into the ground and ponder.

I couldn't quite calm down. I was calmer, but not nearly as calm as Aiden wanted me to be. I started running. I was running away from the school. I had to get out of there. I didn't care if it meant getting in trouble with my 'parents,' I just had to leave.

I watched the ground begin to blur. I had never run this fast before. I was running so fast that I arrive at the house within a minute, when it would normally take ten. How exactly? I didn't know. But I didn't ask questions. I was too angry to ask questions.

I collapsed with a sigh on the bed. Why couldn't I be normal? Not have the normal wishes. those disgusted me. But I wanted to be normal. I just wanted to blend in. I didn't want to be chased by every guy in the school. I was sick of it. Even my friends who were guys I always caught drooling every once in a while.

And Ricky. Ricky had been chased by every girl in the school. He wasn't too keen on rejection. Somehow, he had gotten it into his thick skull that I would stop shunning boys just for him. He was an egotistical asshole.

As I rested on the bed, I started to lull myself into sleep. My dream was less than comforting. It was very similar to the one I had had when I fainted.

_I was walking through a meadow. The birds were singing their song, the rabbits were hopping around, and I had never felt such joy.___

_And then it all crashed. I was grabbed from behind, someone's hand covering my mouth. I tried to scream, but not even the rabbits could hear me. "A half vampire. A rare creature indeed."___

_I screamed again. The person who had grabbed me tok his free hand to slap me. I groaned with pain and he let me slide to the floor. I felt dizzy. I couldn't even sit up, let alone run away. "Tell me, why on Earth would your parents go to such lengths to protect you?"___

_"What are you talking about?"___

_"A half vampire. It's forbidden for you to exist."___

_"I'm human! I don't know what you're talking about!" He started to laugh before grabbing me by my hair. I screamed as he raised my head by pulling on it. "Why are you doing this?"___

_"I wish you could live. But I just can't let you. The vampire king was pretty specific. You must be destroyed. You're rather unlucky, though. At least Aiden would have been quick if he had done it."___

_"Aiden?"___

_"Yep. He was pathetic. But he'll be punished. Unfortunately, that also means I was sent to kill you. And I like to watch people suffer. This is only the beginning..."___

I bolted up. My dreams were really starting to scare me. How many times was i going to have this stupid dream? WHY was I having this stupid dream? It made no sense to me at all.

One thing I was sure of. I was completely calm. I wasn't scared at all. I should have been, and I wanted to be. But I wasn't. I was numb. I knew deep down that the dreams were more than dreams. I was in denial, and I knew it. I got up and started pacing. I was still in denial. I may have been aware of it, which was a change, but I wasn't ready to accept it.

I didn't know what to think. I didn't know what to think, what to do, I just didn't know anymore. My carefully placed walls meant to protect me were crumbling down. I really wasn't ready for them to go. I would fight for them until the end. I had no way of knowing just how close the end was.


	6. Chapter 6

~Aiden's POV~

Nightmares. She said she was having nightmares. They weren't nightmares. they were messages. Warnings. But she couldn't find that out. She had to think she was safe. I wasn't sure exactly why, but I didn't want her to find out. I wanted her to think she was safe. I wanted her not to worry.

"Last night's one was the worst of it. The man said you were supposed to kill me! It was awful. I woke up in a cold sweat and couldn't get back to sleep. I really don't get what's happening to me." I was supposed to kill her. Her nightmares were telling her that. But she wouldn't listen. Despite the warnings, she still wanted to be near me. It was so impossible, it was almost comic.

"Nightmares are bad. really bad. How long have you been having them?"

"Not very long. Just about a week. Ever since the day I learned that I was adopted. that's when it started." That made perfect sense. She knew about her parents. Her dreams were trying to tell her more. I had never been so grateful for ignorance.

"Well, if there's anything I could do just let me know." Deep down, I was hoping she would invite me over to her house or something. She didn't. She just smiled.

"You're such a good friend. Thank you so much for your support. I'm starting to lose sleep over it."

"Well don't hesitate to call me if it happens again, ok? I don't care how late it is, you can get me up." Not like I would be sleeping anyways. Vampires don't sleep.

"I don't want to intrude or anything."

"No. It's no problem. I don't sleep that much anyways." She hugged me and I breathed in her scent. I just wished that we could have remained in that hug for eternity. that hug was full of bliss.

I was getting more and more confused as the minutes ticked by. Just how much of the need I felt for her was the spell and just how much of it was real? I didn't know anymore. At first, I was a hundred percent sure that the spell was the only reason I liked her. But as time progressed and I got to know her, I became unsure of how much of the feelings I had were real. It was easy to blame the spell and be angry, but it was in the same way impossible. I was falling for her. And I knew it.

~Ray's POV~

When I told Aiden about the nightmares, he was completely calm. I had a feeling that he really could read minds. i had developed this theory about all of the boys by then. But obviously he wasn't looking at that moment. Either he wasn't looking or didn't want me to know that he was.

Because if he had looked into my mind, he would see the feeling I got every time I woke up from my nightmares. The feeling that they were more than nightmares. that they were the truth being shown to me. And I was not accepting the truth at the moment.

I told Car about the feeling, though. I trusted her with my flipped. "What are you talking about? There's no way those nightmares are true! Vampires don't even exist!"

"I'm not an idiot Car. I know that. But i get the feeling that they're more than just nightmares. How do you explain that, Car? You know me. I don't usually get that feeling. And when I do, i'm usually right."

"I know. But this can't be one of those cases. Vampires don't exist and Aiden was not sent to kill you." We both chuckled a bit about it. She was right, wasn't she? I was just being paranoid. but i wasn't able to convince myself. Something always did seem off about Aiden. Maybe this was it.

If Aiden had looked into my mind all that afternoon, he would have seen me pondering the prospect of him being a murderer. But I didn't have any afternoon classes with Aiden. I had some with Cayden, but he was absent that day. And Ludin wasn't paying much attention to anything. My mind was safe from their inquiries.

I got home and collapsed on my bed. Were my nightmares really warnings? But then again, in all of my nightmares, Aiden never was able to kill me. It was always the mysterious other guy. He had to finish the job because Aiden couldn't. So maybe Aiden was sent to kill me. But I didn't think that he ever would.

I sighed and listened to music. Everything that day had been too much to handle. "Come down for diner, darling." My 'mother' told me. My 'family' was looking at me expectantly when i got down there. "What's going on?"

"Sweetheart, we want to know what's been going on. You keep screaming when you go to sleep. What's happening to you?" I rolled my eyes. My 'family' was lucky I was in a good mood.

"Nothing. I've just been having some nightmares. No big deal." There was no way in hell I was going to tell them that the nightmares bay have been more like visions.

"That is a big deal."

"Why do you care? As long as Sa... Dumbo doesn't lose sleep over it you're cool right? I'm not your daughter, in case you don't remember! You don't need to kepp pretending." They looked hurt. Good. i hated them.

I ate my dinner in my room, despite their protests. It was baked chicken and rice. Satan's favorite. I looked up as my phone rang. I looked at it and smiled. Car. "Yo, what's up chica?"

"Oh my God! Brittney came up with an ingenious plan to bring Satan down!"

"Oh really?" I raised my eyebrows. A destruction plan for Satan? I'm in!

"Hell yeah! So, you know how Brittney is in gymnastics?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Brittney's going to challenge Satan t a cheer-off! No one knows about Brittney doing gymnastics, so Satan will totally go for it! A set up for public humiliation! Mwahahaha!"

"You guys have way too much time on your hands."

"I know. So are you in? Because what we need from you is to know what Satan is the worst at because that'll be the basis of the cheer-off."

"She's really bad at doing more than one tuck in a row. Back, front, doesn't matter. If you say to do more than one in a row, she'll freak."

"Mwahahahahaha we'll get her good!"

"Could it be considered sad that my life revolves around making my sister's life hell?"

"Probably. But it doesn't matter! you're among a group who has that in common with you." We both laughed and hung up. i felt excitement pulsing through me. Public humiliation for Satan? Sign me up!


	7. Chapter 7

~Ray's POV~

The sense of euphoria filled the air as Car and I waited for lunch. It was intoxicating. By the time lunch rolled around, everyone was in a good and anticipating mood, and only Car and I knew why. We watched the scene begin to play out just as we imagined it. It was better than we could have ever planned on it going.

"Hey Peach!"

"What?" Satan looked at Brittney with a haughty, self-righteous expression. I felt like bursting out with laughter right then, but I somehow managed to stay composed.

"You want to cheer with me a bit?"

"Why on Earth would I cheer with you?"

"How about cheering against me, then?" Satan smiled. She saw an oppurtunity to humiliate someone. We saw the same thing.

"Excellent. You can call the moves since you're the inferior competitor." brittney smiled, ignoring the insult.

"Perfect." Everyone watched in amazement as Brittney did five back tucks in a row. Satan's face was slowly drained of color as she looked from Birttney to the crowd gathered. She ran out of the room. Everyone cheered and started crowding Brittney.

I really couldn't explain my reaction. I suddenly felt defensive. I watched as she ran out of the room with anger pumping through me. I suppose seventeen years of thinking someone was your sister will do that to you. What we had done was petty and cruel, and my reaction was awfuly confusing. I ran after her. I comforted her.

"Dumbo? You flying over here?"

"yeah." I saw Satan smile weakly at me. Her eyes were puffy and tears were running down her cheeks. My thoughts of her softened. She wasn't Satan at that moment. She was my sister, adopted or not. She was Peach. And what i had helped in doing to her was horrible.

Why was I defending her so much? It made no sense to me. She had humiliated almost every person in the school and she was tasting her own medicine for once. But I couldn't help but feel the need to protect her from all of this. I was so confused.

"Hey don't worry about it. there was no way you could have known about Brittney."

"But there can't be someone better than me! I'm the captain! the captain has to be the best. have to be the best."

"You're never going to be the best. There will always be someone better than you. But that's ok."

"And you know what the worst part of it is?"

"What?"

"I feel guilty. I agreed to cheer against her to humiliate her! I don't want to be that person, Ray. I just don't. But Mom and Dad, and all of the teachers, they want me to be a cheerleader. And all of the cheerleaders act like sluts and jerks in order to fit in. i just..."

"I know. But you can't just give in to what everyone else is doing. You do realize that if the cheerleading captain was nice, the others would follow you, right?"

"Well, probably. But it's so difficult." I sat down next to Sa... Du... Peach. I felt like screaming at myself. Even in this moment of vulnerability., I couldn't stop my mind from calling her her famous nicknames.

"Come on, let's flap those ears of yours and fly out of here." She giggled slightly as I helped her up and we began to jog around the school. When we were upset, we both jogged. It was about the only thing we had in common.

but as i looked at Peach in that moment, i didn't see someone who was evil or hideously normal, like I usually did. I saw someone who was confused and hurt. I felt bad for her. Whether I liked it or not, she had been my sister for seventeen years. And although i didn't consider her a sister anymore, I couldn't shake those seventeen years out of my life, We were connected. And for once, I was there when she needed me.

We walked back as the bell rang to signal the end of lunch. Both of our heads were reeling with questions. Both of our walls were crumbling down. We had both given in to extreme sides of the spectrum. She had given in to peer pressure and doing whatever it took to fit in, and i gave into rebelling and doing whatever it took to stand out. We both were questioning those decisions in our heads at the moment. And neither of us wanted to be disturbed.

Unfortunately, we had to separate to get to our classes. I watched her carefully as she walked away. She was so fragile. So breakable. I winced slightly. Her next class was going to tear her apart. I looked around me and grabbed her by the arm. She took one look in my eyes and knew what i was planning.

We both smiled mischievously at each other. To break the rules. To leave. It was a prospect neither of us considered very often. but it was what peach needed. She noded and we both began to walk slowly out of the building. i smiled. peach never broke the rules. Good little angel Peach was ditching. I grinned. She learned so well.


	8. Chapter 8

~Ray's POV~

The glee pulsing through our veins was unistakable. It was the thrill of a broken rule. the exhileration of being freed from society's bonds. We both smiled at each other. We were having the best time of our lives. And there was no way we could get in trouble, because Peach was the parents' little angel. No one would dare punish Peach.

I must admit, it felt kind of strange to call her Peach. My mind went fuzzy every time. It flustered wildly. That can't be right... Four years of her nicknames had really rubbed off on me. Perhaps you could consider caling her Peach freeing myself from yet another bond I held. I always was against my family, even if we agreed. It was strangely exciting to be friends with my sister again.

We both laughed as we pumped our legs on the swings. We didn't notice the man watching us, and if we did no one can really predict whether we would chose fight or flight. When it all actually happened, though, both were no longer available. Thank God everything turned out the way it did.

~Aiden's POV~

We all made excuses to leave early. We had to watch ray. We had to protect her. When we caught up with them, they were at the park. We didn't sense any vampires. OF course, ti didn't end up being vampires we should have watched out for. Vampires were no problem. A group of punk huimans, big problem.

We probably should have noticed the group of punks watching them. Peach's bright blonde hair in complete contrast to ray's jet black hair called to them. two beautiful girls who were obviously dumb enough to ditch school. If they were dumb enough to ditch school, they were probably dumb enough to fall for the boy's plan.

I only saw their plan when it was too late. When warning ray was out of the question, leaving only the question of whether we should save her and reveal we were vampires in the process.

~Ray's POV~

We played at the park for about half an hour. If my target was unavailable for an entire half hour, i would have given up. Too bad. We had attracted some patient creeps. Eventually, we felt like we were being watched. We started to get paranoid. We both agreed it was time to go home. Our paranoia signaled to the creeps that it was time to move in. Their plan was underway.

"Hello, ladies." Peach giggled as I rolled my eyes. Quite honeslty, i will admit that they were gorgeous. Had I not shunned boys, I would most likely giggle too. An entire group of really hot guys. Too good to be true. Too bad I was right.

"Hey. You mind moving out of the way?"

"No. We thought you might like an escort home. It's too dangerous for two beautiful young ladies to be alone out here." The trap was set. He looked at us kindly as our paranoia settled in again. Paranoia can sometimes block out the senses. It worked.  
We smiled, thankful for some kindness, and the boys seemed quite happy. they seemed so sweet and kind that it was impossible for us to feel that we were in danger. We felt completely safe while we linked arms with two of the bastards. they smiled a friendly smile at us and we embarked.

"So where do you ladies live?"

"Right over there. Down that street a little."

"want to know where we live?" Peach giggled. I started to get angry.

"No. We don't."

"But we won't be going too much out of the way. It's just down that street." He pointed to the street right next to ours. the red alert sign was blinking. There was no way in hell I was going anywhere near someone I just met's house.

"No. Come on, Peach. We'll finish the walk home on our own, thank you very much."

"No. I want to see their house. I've always thought the houses over there are cute."

"No! Come on, Peach."

"There, there. it won't be too much of a hassel, will it?" Poor Peach whithered under his smile. She was completely convinced. And there was no way in hell I was going home without her.

"Fine. Let's go." They caught on about half way down the street that I was no longer planning on linking arms with any of them. You probably could see the anger surrounding me like a bubble. Why on Earth must Peach be so gullible?

We arrived at a small little house. it was nice, actually. it was light green, with flowers lining the entrance, and so much smaller than ours. it was humble and quaint. I was convinced. I re-linked arms with one of the boys, who smiled like a little boy who had just won Christmas, convincing me further. There was no way this cute little house could hold half of the horrors i had imagined,was there? I really should have listened more to the whole "don't go into a stranger's house" speech.

We were all smiling as we walked in. It was so quaint and homely. Both Peach and I were engulfed in it. You must understand, humble did not exist in our house. Everything was extravagent to show off our success. So this humble and welcoming decoration was quite a change. We were completely engulfed in the serenity of all of it.

"Would you like something to eat?"

"Not really."

"How about something to drink?"

"Sure." the boys handed us both some Mountain Dew Code Red. Had I sniffed it, I would have smelled alcohol and drugs. But like I said, I was completely convinced. As we both began to lose our senses and stumble, we realized at last that my instincts were much smarter than we were. Too bad it was too late.


	9. Chapter 9

~Ray's POV~

"Ray? I'm scared." her words were slurred and she could barely walk without one of the bastards holding her up.

"Don't be." I felt my world spinning, but i tried my hardest to ignore it. "I'll get you out of this." I had already accepted by then that if I was going to save Peach, i probably wasn't going to be able to save myself. But when it all came down to it, my life sucked anyways. Death wasn't exactly welcome, but I wasn't nearly as scared of it as Peach.

I stumbled across the room and began to struggle against the boy holding Peach. He let go of her in order to restrain me. "Run, Peach!" She obliged and amazingly made it out of the house. I could hardly believe it, but she was able to run further. Of course she wasn't exactly stable, but she crawled away. And i wouldn't let the boys get her. I started to struggle as hard as i could, despite the nauseating effect it had on me.

And the boys reacted just as I had hoped they would. they turned to me. Peach was officially safe. And i was so screwed. "You let her get away. guess we'll just have to have double the fun with you." It was the leader of saorts who had spoken. the guy holding me. "I call first dibs." I couldn't struggle anymore. My brain wasn't able to react any longer and i went limp in his arms. he grinned, knowing he had won.

He carried me to a room and shut the door behind him, shoving me roughly on the bed. I couldn't register any of what was going on. And then he was on top of me, kissing me forcefully. He didn't even hold me at all, knowing that i couldn't manage any struggling.

We both were very confused when the glass window shattered. I couldn't register who it was who had saved me for almost a minute. Finally, I recognised Aiden, Cayden, and Ludin. they all were movingimpossibly fast and throwing the guy across the room with impossible force. Was my mind playing tricks on me? I couldn't really react at all, had my reasoning died as well?

the other guys barged into the room and I started to black out as the entire room filled with blood.

~Cayden's POV~

We were all completely infuriated. Aiden and Ludin tore the bastards apart, completely losing control. I was somehow able to supress my rage and despite my deepest desires to kill them all, I managed to stay calm in order to get ray out of there.

I took her to our human home. I knew where she lived, but I didn't think that would be the best place to take her. So i took her to our human house. not long after, Aiden and Ludin arrived. I cringed slightly. i did not think that Ray would want to see them soaked in blood. "Go change." they both left complyingly and i watched ray's sleeping form.

unfortunately, the smell of blood was activating my blood lust. So as soon as Ludin came down the stairs to watch ray, i went hunting. It didn't take too long, but when I got back ray smelled completely different. the alcohol and drugs that the punks had spiked her drink with were wearing off. We all smiled knowing this.

Her eyes began to flutter open and we all completely panicked on the inside, although our faces were composed. She opened her eyes and looked at us. Hee face held no confusion as she looked at us. She remembered what she saw.

"So what exactly are you?" we all paused. We had at least expected a warning. We didn't like where this was going.

"We're.. vampires." i sighed. Of course, Ludin had been the only one brave enough to say it. I was... Well i just didn't want her to know, and Aiden would be crushed if her reaction was bad.

"And Aiden. those nightmares..." His face lost all color and she knew she didn't have to finish the question. She nodded. And then she fainted for the second time that day.


	10. Chapter 10

~Ray's POV~

I woke up with a pounding headache. It took me a while to remember why I had fainted in the first place. When I did, though, I bolted up. Vampires. they had told me that they were vampires. I immediately stood up and walked out of the room. I had to find the boys.

I found them outside. They looked like they were in deep conversation even though they were completely silent. i shivered slightly, realizing that they probably didn't have to speak out loud to communicate. Couldn't vampires read minds? "Ray! You're up!"

Aiden looked up as Cayden said that and he immediately smiled a really bright smile. He was in front of me in a second, pulling me into a hug. I blinked. How the hell did he do that? he laughed. "Super speed, silly. Haven't you read any vampire stories lately?"

"Well yeah. But how much of that stuff is true?"

"Well that's going to take a while." I sighed and sat down, looking at them expectantly. Aiden sighed and began to explain. "Well, vampires can read minds, have super speed and strength, have venom in their teeth which can turn other people into vampires, and can basically control anything having to do with the mind. Like illusions sort of, but much more effective."

"Really? Show me!" He sighed and closed his eyes. I watched in amazement as the scenery changed. We were at my house, but we weren't were we? I felt dizzy because my mind was trying to reject the illusion. Immediately, I felt the scenery change back to normal.

"I guess it wouldn't completely work for you."

"Why doesn't it?"

Ludin clapped his hands together, catching me off guard and making me completely forget the question. "Well we should probably take you back home. Peach is probably looking for you." I shrugged until I realized what he was doing.

"Hey! YOu're avoiding the question!"

"You don't even remember your question." Damn. Forgot he could read my mind.

"Doesn't matter! You remember it! I know you do! Vampires have that super good memory thing." He shrugged.

"You don't remember, we don't answer." I glared at all three of them. they just looked back mocking innocence. i finally sighed, giving up. Before I could register what was going on, Aiden was carrying me bridal style. "Close your eyes." I thought about defying them, but quickly decided against it. I did not want to be dizzy again anytime soon.

We arrived at my house and I immediately rushed inside. "PEach! Mom! Dad! I'm home!" No answer. Where were they? I searched the entire house, but no one was home.

I looked in Peach's room and found her on the bed. She was asleep, but I saw tears running down her cheeks. I smiled slightly as i wiped the tears away and closed the door silently behind me, leaving Peach to sleep alone. I hoped she wasn't having any nightmares. She wasn't screaming, so she probably wasn't. Peach always screamed when she had nightmares.

i shrugged and turned on the TV. I gasped. "Aiden, Cayden, Ludin! Get your asses over here now!" I somehow just knew they were close enough to hear me. They all appeared in front of me, looking confused. I just pointed at the TV. They looked at it obediently and I watched as their mouths slowly opened until they were gaping.

Aiden said one simple word that summed up the situation: "Fuck." No other word could possible be more appropriate.


	11. Chapter 11

~Ray's POV~

There were many reasons why fuck was the first word that came to mind. Apparently quite a lot had happened in the day or so I was gone.

First things first. My real parents' deaths were being investigated. Don't ask me how I knew they were my real parents. i can't quite explain it. I think that I spent five minutes picking out the physical similarities between us, but I only started that after I realized who they were. Apparently police were mystified by the strange puncture marks on their necks. I narrowed my eyes. this definitely had something to do with a) my nightmares, and b) the secrets the boys were keeping from me. Vampires were involved with my parents' deaths. I was determined to figure out why.

Second, my adopted parents were looking for me. They had kmade a desperate plea on national TV about me. There would definitely be a LOT of questions when they got home. Third, the deaths of the bastards who drugged Peach and I were also being investigated. I cringed when they showed the small room where i had witnessed a very good reason not to piss the boys off.

Lastly, there were many mysterious deaths popping up around town. Small amount for now, but definitely not good seeing as they involved two puncture marks at the neck. There was a vampire in this town. And I had a strange feeling that I was the reason it was here. "We are so screwed."

"We? Whatever. You guys can deal with this but I am out." the boys cringed slightly.

"You can't do that." I sighed and whipped around to face them. When did i give the permission to tell me what i could and couldn't do?

"Why the hell not?"

"Because there's a reason all of this is happening and the reason isn't us." I paused, waiting for them to say the words i knew they were going to say. i had already suspected as muh in my mind, but I still wanted them to say it. If they said it I could be sure. "It's you." I sat down on the couch, witing expectantly for them to explain everything to me. they sighed and sat down on the couch as well, wurrounding me (both a blessing and a curse. I felt protected but also imprisoned).

"Ray? Is that you?" I bolted up the stairs. explanations could wait.

"yeah. It's me, Peach. Just relax. You need to rest. You look like you haven't slept at all."

"I just fell asleep two hours ago." She shrugged. "I was worrying about you."

"You don't need to worry. I'm ok and everything is going to be fine." My voice almost crack at the last part. things were most definitely not going to be fine any time soon. She smiled nonetheless, oblivious to my life falling apart.

"Good. Mom and Dad are worried sick."

"I know. I saw them on the news. I guess it'll take a bit of explaining, won't it?" She nodded.

"But you can handle it." I smiled and she closed her eyes to go back to sleep. I ran back down stairs.

"Ok. What the hell is going on?"

"I think we should sit outside. We don't want Peach hearing about it." I nodded and we stepped outside. They all took deep breaths and looked at each other, wondering who would be the one to break the news to me. I started tapping my foot. finally, Ludin spoke up.

"Well, you're parents, they weren't normal." I had already gathered that by the fact that they were assassinated by vampires. I waited for more. "One of them was human," one of them? What the hell? Ludin took a deep breath before finishing the sentence, "and the other was a vampire." I sucked in a deep breath as I felt my head spinning. There was no way i was letting myself faint a third time.

"It's forbidden for a vampire and human to mate. But they were smarter than most. They hid and sent you to hide with a safer family. It took us sixteen years to track them down, and another six months to track you down. the original objective was to... eliminate." My eyes widened. Why would they tell me this?

"Aiden was sent by his father, the..."

"I was sent by my father to kill you." Again, i felt black dots appearing in my vision, but fought off my dizziness. "But things went askew. half vampires enchant all vampires who look at them, I guess you could say. Once we looked you in the face, all three of us were binded to you. We couldn't kill you if we tried." I sat down on the ground and brought my knees into my chest.

"And... well, that new vampire that's popped up is most likely after you too."

This wasn't supposed to happen to me. I was supposed to track down my real parents and live happily ever after with them. I was most definitely NOT supposed to go through life unsure of when my last moment would be. Now, I've always loved the prospect of vampires. But the idea is a whole lot different than seeing the idea come to life. They merit different reactions.

"No, no, no, no, no." I looked up at the boys and they looked at me sympathetically. I looked down again when i felt the sting of tears coming. there was no way in hell they were seeing me cry. "Go away." They all knew exactly why, having seen my mind, and disappeared.

i sighed and went inside, knowing that they would see me cry anyways because they weren't really gone. They were watching me in 'secrecy' so that I would be safe. but even with all of their eyes looking down upon me, I had never felt so alone. And so, for the first time in eight years,I collapsed onto my bed and cried.


	12. Chapter 12

~Ray's POV~

I woke up and ran into the bathroom first thing. I looked hideous. My eyes were red and puffy, my hair was a mess, and I looked paler than I had been in a long time. I hadn't cried in a long time. I had almost forgotten the negative side effects it brought.

I quickly jumped into the shower and cleaned up so that I looked at least slightly back to normal. My eyes looked slightly better. I shrugged and walked out of the bathroom. there was nothing i could do about my eyes.

"Good morning." I whirled around and grasped my heart, gasping for breath. I glared at Aiden.

"Don't do that ever again." Aiden just chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"I can't wish you a good morning."

"Not if it is designed to scare me out of my wits."

"She's got a point. You know she could probably kick your ass, Aiden." What was up with them? Now that I knew they suddenly had free reign over my room? "Pretty much." He grinned. note to self: kill Cayden.

"Are you guys done antagonizing her? We'll be late for school."

"Well maybe a certain group of vampires should get out of my room so I can change!"

"Come on, guys. We don't want to be late for school."

"Why not?"

"Because Peach is getting really annoying when I'm not there." I giggled and they all disappeared, leaving me in peace. I picked out my outfit for the day and changed (in the bathroom, I didn't really trust them).

I looked out of the window and saw all of the boys talking in the tree right outside my room. I rolled my eyes. Of course, I needed to be protected. That overrode the whole "some people prefer privacy" thing. I just looked away from them and looked at the scenery.

the view from my window was slightly blocked by the tree, but mostly the view was gorgeous. I got the perfect view of all the trees behind the city. It was in all honesty my favorite place to be. Most girls loved the city, but if you abandoned me in the forest i would be comletely content.

"Come on, guys. time for school." They all looked at me... and looked at me... and looked some more. I glared and then realized that I was wearing a top view shirt, and they were sitting above me. I subtly crossed my arms over my chest. "Pervs." I muttered. But I knew they heard me, so I shut the window and ran into Peach's room. "Good morning, Sweetheart."

"Not today. Today we're going shopping."

"No way in hell."

"Give into your girl instincts for once, ray! I was scared to death yesterday!" I rolled my eyes and she giggled and went to her closet to change. I did owe her this much. I pretty much scared my entire family to death.

"Fine. But you better be paying."

"Mom and Dad are. Duh!" I smiled slightly and walked back to my room.

"Never mind. No school today. that's great. An entire day of shopping. What a nightmare."

"No school today?"

"Nope. Peach is dragging me to hell for the day."

"Shopping is hell?"

"Pretty much."

"I thought girls were supposed to love shopping?"

"And since when am I a normal girl."

"I guess you never were. that's the best part about you."

"Go away Aiden. I'm really not in the mood to be near any beings of the male gender right now." he just smirked before disappearing. An entire day of shopping. this was going to suck.

"Come on, Ray! this store is totally awesome!"

"No. Hot Topic. Now." I ran into the store before she could protest. there was no way in hell she was dragging me to Abercrombie and Fitch.

Peach sighed before following me into the store. she stuck as close to me as possible. She was probably scared to death of half the people in the store. "Hello, ladies." I froze. that voice sounded sooo familiar. Why did it sound familiar? "I'm sorry to bother you, but i couldn't help but notice you two." Why. the. hell. did. it. sound. so. familiar? What was going on!

I turned around and realized exactly why his voice seemed so familiar. i dropped my stuff, grabbed Peach by the wrist, and dragged her as far away from him as possible. he didn't pursue us. he just smirked and walked out of the store. Holy shit.


	13. Chapter 13

~Peach's POV~

"What is going on?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Like, OMG! You had to be kidding me. I loved Ray to death, but she could be SOOO annoying! Ugh!

"One minute we were in Hot Topic, which I am NEVER going in again by the way, and the next we're in the food court! Why are you acting so wierd, Ray?"

"I don't know. Define wierd."

"You dragged me out of the store by my wrist, away from that total HOTTIE, and then you're acting like nothing happened! What is up with you, Ray?"

Ray hesitated. She knew I was unlikely to give up. "That _total hottie_ was trouble. Big trouble."

"How do you know?" Ray opened her mouth, and closed it. And opened and closed. I just wanted to know what was going on, ok! My sister was like totally freaking out! I wanted to know why!

"Because..." She took a deep breath and looked me in the eye. She didn't do that often. I knew this was serious. "Because I've seen him before. And I think he's trying to kill me."

I froze. What? Huh? But why? And how? And... HUH????? "What?"

"Look, I've been... Look, can you promise not to tell mom and dad about this conversation?"

"Yes," I said automatically. I honestly wasn't sure if I could, but that was how I would get her to tell me. I NEEDED to be in the loop about this.

"Well, I've been having nightmares lately."

"About... that night?"

"No. About... About HIM."

"Him who?"

"Your 'total hottie.' I haven't met him before, but I dreamed about him! Explain that to me, Peach!"

"Well... You mean kind of like the sand man?"

"Yes. Like the sand man. Except more real. Like the dreams are actually going to happen."

"So... Mister sand man is trying to kill you."

"Almost every nightmare I have ends in him trying to kill me, Peach. Sometimes he succeeds, sometimes not, I just don't know! I don't know what to do Peach."

"Well... Ray... Are you sure about this?"

"yes. Completely sure." Three possibilities: she's insane, she's lying, or she's telling the truth. guess what I picked? You guessed it. I picked...

~Ray's POV~

I don't know why i told Peach. I mean it was idiotic to tell Peach. She would either call me a liar, think I was insane, or believe me. Two of which were more likely than the others.

But I felt like I needed to tell her. The words just pored out. I guess I didn't realize just how much I needed to tell my story. I was going insane not speaking about it.

"Hey guys!" Aiden, Cayden, and Ludin walked up to us casually, although I couldn't miss the nervous glances they were exchanging. "What's up?"

"Nothing much?"

"Cool. So Peach would you mind if we took ray away from you for a while?"

"Go ahead." Peach gave me a wierd look while I walked away with the boys.

"So tell me about your encounter with 'the snad man.'" I looked down. I don't know why, but I felt really nervous right now.

"He was in Hot Topic."

"We know. What did you _do_ when you saw him?"

"Got the hell out of there."

"Good girl." Aiden was just looking down the entire time.

"Is something wrong, Aiden?" He mumbled something unintelligible. "Are you ok?"

"No. I'm not. You shouldn't have gone to the mall without us following behind you. You knew that."

"I know. But I owed this to Peach. Besides you guys were at the mall."

"It would have gone smoother if we had been with you."

"Tell me how I would swing that one."

He fell silent. I grinned. Point proven! Mental happy dance (not doing the real one in frotn of people!)."So what choice did she choose?"

"What?"

"You know exactly what I mean. Peach had three choices. What did she choose?"

"Oh. She chose..."


	14. Chapter 14

~~Peach's POV~

I walked out of the mall, determined. I had made my choice. Now I just had to figure out how to tell ray. I couldn't very well leave ray to go think, so I just sat outside the mall. The boys had ditched apparently, because they dragged ray off. Good it made things easier. A lot easier. I could clear my head. I looked over to see Ray yelling at the boys. whether the reason she was jumping was of joy or anger, I couldn't tell. Nor could i tell the reason. But I could tell one thing: eventually i would have to talk to ray. I really didn't want to.

Everything was fine until she told me about the nightmares. The problem was that she really was scared about all of it. It seemed so impossible, but she nmade it real. And that's why i chose what i chose. That's why.

"So, what's up?" I knew what she really meant. She really meant 'what did you decide?' but she wouldn't say it out loud. Always guarding herself from dissapointment. It was one of ray's tragic traits that made her painful to look at. She was so complicated i could barely stand to be around her. It made my head spin.

"I think I've made up my mind."

"About what?"

"About this whole thing. I think i've completely decided."

"And?"

"Well..."

"hey Peach! Want to come hang out with us?"

"Well..."

"Come on! It'll be tons of fun. Ditch the loser loner."

"No. Come on Ray. We need to talk."

~Ray's POV~

Peach never turned down her friends. It was obvious she was determined about this. This was important to her. That could mean one of two things: it was important to let me know she trusted me, or she needed rto get the guilt off of her chest. One or the other. But which one?

"I've decided."

"I gathered that."

"And I think that it's what's right." I tried to concentrate on reading her mind. The boys could do it and i was half vampire, why couldn't I?

Because I hadn't gotten my vampire abilities yet. I hadn't even started to develop them. "And? What is the right decision?" I had never exactly realized how much peach's opinion of me mattered. i guess getting her reputation destroyed and both of us almost getting raped really made us realize how much we needed each other. I hung on her every word, waiting for the bad news.

It never came. "I think I believe you." I hugged my sister and meant it for the first time in eight years.


	15. Chapter 15

~~~Ray's POV~

We were hanging out at the boy's 'mortal home,' as they called it. It was rather comical, in all actuality, because every time a dust bunny came up they would crinkle their noses and start coughing. It was my seventeenth birthday. I can't imagine a better way to spend it.

"So what will it be like?"

"No one really knows. Half vampires generally don't survive up to this point."

"And you're no exception." We all looked up. I blinked. Standing before us was the most gorgeousgirl I had ever seen. She grinned. "What? No hug?" Aiden growled and stood in front of me protectively. She rolled her eyes. "Oh, calm down. I'm not here to kill her." Aiden didn't calm down.

"Then why are you here?" She shrugged.

"Maybe I just missed you." She laughed. "What? I can't miss my big bro?" Aiden growled again. Big bro? Aiden had a sister? "No, actually I'm here to warn you that Dad sent Johnny after her." Aiden's face suddenly looked completely panicked.

"That's the vampire who's been here?" She nodded.

"I thought I should tell you. I don't want my big bro getting hurt." She disappeared. Ludin, Cayden, and Aiden were all noticably tense. They sat down and started talking so quietly I couldn't hear.

"Don't you think I deserve to know what's going on." They sighed.

"You won't like it."

"I don't care." They gestured for me to sit with them.I did and they all took a deep breath.

"Johnny is bad news."

"I figured. Want to tell me why?"

"Because the spell will have no effect on him. It'll only increase his pleasure in killing you." I flinched. "He killed his wife, his sister, and everyone else he loved. He killed them because he loved them. And once he looks..."

"Was he the one who I saw a few days ago?"

"I don't know. Describe the person you saw." I starting running through the decription in my head. They all cursed under their breath. "That's him. And now he wants nothing more than to kill you." Well that's just great... not. I nodded, composing my face so that my emotions didn't show. They read my mind anyways. they knew I was running through every little thing trying to find a solution, completely freaking out.

I froze as I felt an unimaginable pain consume me. I screamed and fell to the floor. The boys ran to my side. Nothing helped the just kept coming, increasing every second. I felt like my body was going to explode. I couldn't hear anything, couldn't see anything, couldn't even think. The pain was the only thing I was able to feel. Finally, after about ten minutes of screaming and pain, the pain subsided and I blacked out.


	16. Chapter 16

~Ray's POV~

When I woke up, I felt really confused, but other than that I felt ok. In fact, I felt good. Really good. I could practically feel an unimaginable power running through my veins. I jumped up and walked around looking for the boys. They were in the living room. As soon as I walked in, they ran up to me and started smothering me with questions about what happened.

"What happened? You just collapsed. And you were screaming and... I've never been so confused or terrified in my life."

"I think... I think I transformed!" It all clicked. I felt power running through me. It was! I was probably faster, stronger, I could just feel it all. I was very different. I was better. I grinned at the prospect. I wonder what I could do?

"Whoa, Ray. Calm down. Let's not be too ha..." I didn't let Aiden finish. I started running. And boy, could I run fast. I laughed as I felt the wind blow my hair all around and felt my leg muscles pump and flex. It felt amazing. Incredible.

I stopped running and went up to the nearest tree. I brought my fist back and punched the tree. It split in half. The two halves went flying in different directions. I giggled as I watched what a simple punch had done. Yes. I was definitely stronger.

What else could the boys do? They could read minds. I would have to wait to test that one. They could do that weird fantasy thing. Well, I would have to wait for that one too. Could they do anything else? I didn't think so. I was pretty sure I was done for now. Well, there was healing, but I really didn't want to test that one out. I had a feeling I could still feel pain. Oh well.

~Aiden's POV~

Ray took off to test her new abilities. Not good. Why did she have to be so reckless? I got ready to go after her, but my father walked in. Even worse. He wanted Ray dead.

"Hello, Aiden. You really haven't done well with killing her, have you?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you three. Come." Damn it. Once the king gave an order, it was impossible to disobey. He hadn't specifically ordered me to kill Ray. I could get out of that one. But this was an order. I couldn't go after Ray right now. I had to go talk to my father. Joy.

~Ray's POV~

I ran back to the house, but the boys weren't there. "Aiden? Cayden? Ludin?" No answer. Huh. Something really didn't feel right.

"Hello, my love." I froze. That voice. I had been hoping I would never hear it again. I felt some hands grab me and I crashed into a body. Johnny had a hold of me. "You thought you could get away, didn't you?"

I had more strength than him, didn't I? Well, he knew how to get past that. He hit me upside the head and I slipped into unconsciousness listening to his menacing laughter. Johnny was definitely winning this game so far.


	17. Chapter 17

~Ray's POV~

Have you ever had those days where it is made very clear to you that you're going to die soon? Have you ever had your life flash before your eyes? Have you ever known you were going to die and then had that luxury taken away from you?

I have.

Johnny started laughing as he watched me get up groggily. I could barely move. I couldn't process anything. And I knew immediately why. I had experienced this before. He drugged me. He was worried I might escape if he didn't, I guess. He was good. I had to hand that to the bastard. He was good. He knew what he was doing.

He started doing the typical speech while twirling my hair. My mind was screaming at my body to slap him, hit him, anything as long as he wasn't touching me. But my body wasn't responding. I clenched my eyes shut at the feeling of his fingers sliding through my hair. I wanted nothing more than to tear his throat out. If only I had the capability for it at the moment.

"You know most people, when they love someone, they express it in such a typical way. Chocolates, roses, anything to get them to smile. But people smile all the time. You're not really affecting them in any special way. What I need is to be remembered by that person forever.

"And you know how I do that?" He leaned into my ear, increasing my murdering wishes, and whispered in my ear, "I make them scream." He pulled back and chuckled at the terrified look on my face. "All I want is for them to remember me. So I make it impossible for them to forget.

"And it satisfies me, too. Every scream is like a symphony to me. It's the most beautiful thing you'll ever hear. And the more I love the, the more musical their screams are. You see, I don't really mean to kill them. I just want them to remember. But their screams are just so beautiful. I guess I can't stop causing them. They were only human. They died so easily." I shivered as I realized where this was going.

"But you..." He smiled and stroked my cheek, making me glare at him. He just chuckled again. "You can heal. You're the best gift I could have been given. I can hear you scream all night and you won't just die like a human would. You'll heal. You'll live. And I can hear my little symphony as much as I want. And then I guess I'll wait for the order comes from the big guy upstairs to kill you. But until then, we'll have lots of fun."

You see, this is what I was talking about earlier. I was under the impression that he would kill me. End of story. I could live with that. But no. He was going to torture me. Make me scream as much as possible. And thanks to this little ability to heal, it wouldn't make any difference. I wouldn't die. It would just go on forever until he was finally ordered to kill me. Oh please, let that be soon.

Johnny started fingering a table which had a generous assortment of weapons spread on it. He picked out a knife. He brought it over to me, smiling with malisciousness and pure glee as he struck it into me and started sliding down slowly. I screamed while the knife made its slow way down my stomach. Every moment I screamed, he closed his eyes out of pure bliss.

I didn't want to scream. I wanted anything but to scream. Screaming was giving him what he wanted. But the pain was unbearable. Every centimeter he slid the knife down felt like miles to me. Miles upon miles of blood and pain. He took the knife out finally and set it down beside us. I waited for the pain to stop. I begged to just die. Get it over with. But I didn't. I healed. My body returned to the way it was before the knife made its journey and Johnny smiled, pleased with his work.

"Oh, Baby. Your scream is the most musical I've heard yet." I felt hot tears spring to my eyes. I took a deep breath and held it in. I was not going to cry. I couldn't cry. He knew I was going to, though. He chuckled. "Babe, you might as well just let the tears fall. There's no one watching except me and you!"

"I hate you you bastard."

"As long as you remember me, Babe. That's all I ask."

~Aiden's POV~

I watched my father carefully. He was completely relaxed. That only happened when he felt satisfied over something. Usually something he had had trouble with. I narrowed my eyes. What was he hiding?

"Well, Aiden. I'm giving you news that should relieve you. You don't have to kill her."

"And why would that be?"

"What does it matter to you? You're free of this burden. Relax. Take a break. I heard Aly is dying to see you." Aly was my father's pet of some sorts. She went where he wished and hung out with whom he wished. Aiden rolled his eyes. His father wanted him to be monitored. Didn't want him doing anything stupid.

"I'll never be free of this burden, Father. Her life is linked to mine."

"Well then I suggest you get back to the mortal world, huh?" He smiled as if he was saying some inside joke. I glared briefly at my father and left through the portal. Ray. I smelt Ray's blood. Oh God.

Ludin and Cayden ran up behind me, sniffing the air just like I was. "Johnny," we all said at the same time. This was the joke. My father had taken us, her protection, away to make way for Johnny. I narrowed my eyes and started running. My father wasn't going to win this time.


	18. Chapter 18

~Ray's POV~

_Please just let me die. Please. I can't take this anymore. Let me die. Let me die. _Johnny had taken a break from torturing me. Without his watchful eye over me, I let the tears I had been holding in fall. I just wanted to be normal. Blend right in. And now I was the most wanted person alive. Everyone either wanted me for themselves or wanted me dead.

_Just let me die, goddamn it! Let me die, please! _It was no use. I wouldn't die. I could heal. Johnny could hear me scream al he wanted. I banged my head against the wall in frustration. The drugs were starting to wear off. But I wasn't strong enough to break through the titanium cuffs Johnny put around my hands and feet. I wouldn't be getting away any time soon.

I started thinking about everything I regretted from my life. I shouldn't have completely shunned boys. Everyone who had a boy was always so happy. I just wanted to be happy for once. One time. That was all I needed. But I would never get that, would I?

I shouldn't have tried to push my family away. Sure they were different than me, but they at least tried to make me happy. And I wanted so badly to say that I had a happy life. But I couldn't bring myself to voice that lie. My life had been a cycle of misery that I had brought down upon myself. I felt so angry at myself while I was looking at all of this. How pathetic was I? Was I really that scared to smile?

I shouldn't have started running to test my powers. I separated myself from the boys, who were supposed to protect me. And then what happened? Did they go out looking for me? Did they abandon me? I wanted to know. I wanted to know whether or not they abandoned me. They were some of the few real friends I had. I needed to know that I could trust them. That they wouldn't abandon me.

I shouldn't have done a lot of things. Did I do anything right? _Please just let me die. _But if I died what would happened to me? Would I honestly be able to say that my moments on Earth were happy? No. Was I ok with that? Could I really accept that I had brought myself a miserable life? Could I honestly say that I was happy with who I was? No. Was there time to try and change it? Most likely not.

I started analyzing every moment of my pathetic life, looking for something I did right. When I was little I had it right. I laughed al the time and cried when I needed to, I just let all of my emotion out so easily. I was happy. When I was nine, my family started talking about success and all of that. The normal wishes came in. I didn't want to be normal. Normal was boring. So I stopped crying. I wouldn't let anyone see me cry. That was what normal people do.

And who can honestly laugh when they can't cry? I couldn't. I started looking at every time I laughed and smiled with disgust. Those weren't real. I wasn't happy. And if I didn't get away from Johnny soon, I never would be happy again. I had to get away. But it was impossible. How do you do the impossible?

Johnny came back at that moment. I couldn't be angry anymore. I couldn't feel anything as he walked up to me. I just waited for the pain. I was used to the pain now. I didn't scream. He got frustrated and dug his knife in further. I still didn't scream. I wasn't giving him what he wanted. If I was unhappy he was going down with me.

Johnny smiled then, as if he realized something. "If you won't scream with pain, we'll just have to experiment to find what will, won't we?" I did not like the sound of that. he fingered the bottom of my shirt, making me shiver as his freezing hands touched my stomach. "Hm, you know, I'm still a man. I have needs. And if pain won't work, I guess I'll just satisfy them, won't I?" He smirked at me and then lifted my shirt. I screamed. He won again.

~Aiden's POV~

We had been running for a few hours. Johnny had taken Ray far away from the city. Probably because he knew the city was too close to the portal. I pushed my legs to go faster. Finally, we were close enough to hear their voices. "Get off of me, you bastard!"

"Oh, but how will you remember me, Babe?" I felt so much anger pumping through me at the sound of Ray screaming. Johnny was going to die. I would make sure of that.

We arrived in a small warehouse. Their scents were all over the place. This was where he had taken Ray. We ran through the warehouse, following Ray's scent. We came upon a door labeled "L-T." What that meant, I didn't know, but Ray was in there. I burst through the door and what I observed made my anger flare up even more.

Johnny was on top of Ray, slicing all the way up her shirt. There were silent tears running down Ray's cheeks, and a look of satisfaction on Johnny's face. When they noticed me, a multitude of things happened. Johnny grinned before getting off of Ray, who collapsed onto the ground (he had had her pinned against the wall). Ludin and I both pinned Johnny to the wall, watching as his face clouded with terror as he realized he wasn't going to win this fight.

Cayden went over to Ray, who clung to him as if her life depended on it (which it practically did). Ludin and I enjoyed every second of killing Johnny. I had told myself he would pay, and now he had. I had also promised myself my father would pay. He could wait. For now we needed to check on Ray.

Ray did not look good. She was shaking from head to toe, her vocal chords were scratched from all of the screaming Johnny had gotten out of her, and there were tear stains down her face and her eyes were red from crying. When Ludin and I went over to her, she let go of Cayden and collapsed into my arms, crying into my shoulder.

"I thought you guys abandoned me." Her voice sounded broken. Alone. And scared. It broke my heart to listen to it. She didn't deserve to go through this.

"We could never abandon you, Ray. You're too special."

~Ray's POV~

_Please just let me die. I'm actually happy. I want to die happy. _


	19. Chapter 19

~Ray's POV~

I clung to Aiden for dear life after my ordeal. I didn't want them to abandon me. They had abandoned me and all of this happened. I wouldn't let them leave again. Aiden hesitated before picking me up. "Can you run on your own?" I shook my head furiously. I could run. Of course I could run. My legs had healed ten times over. That didn't mean I was going to run.

I was actually happy for once as the boys ran through all of the trees towards the house. I smiled a real smile, not my fake one. The wind whipping through my hair as I observed all of the trees was a sensation I treasured. And the boys were here, with me. This was all I needed. I had people who actually cared about me and a gorgeous view of nature (it would have been a total blur, but my vision was a lot clearer since my transformation).

I hadn't experienced happiness for eight years. Real happiness. It had become a total stranger to me. I was gaining emotions I never remembered having. All of those happy memories had faded. Ever since that night... but that night didn't matter. What mattered was right now. All of these strange emotions running through me. I was kind of confused by it all.

Why did I feel like all of the blood was rushing to my head? Why did I feel like jumping up and dancing? Why did I feel really warm in the areas surrounding my smile? Why did I feel like reaching up and touching the sky? Why was it so hard to contain my laughter all of a sudden? Why was I looking at everything in my life in a new light? Why was I happy? What made me happy? Was happiness what was causing all of this strange changes in me?

What was happiness? What _was _it? I hadn't felt it in so long. The memories seemed so distant to me now as I looked back at them. I guess a near death experience will change how you look at everything. What exactly was different? What was happiness?


	20. Chapter 20

~Ray's POV~

I sank further into Aiden's chest as we arrived at the house. I didn't want him to let me go just because we had arrived. I felt different at the moment. I didn't exactly know how to explain it, but I did. And I didn't want it to go away. I wanted things to be exactly as they were at that moment.

Aiden put me down on the couch, to my great disappontment, and started questiong me on stuff. "Are you ok?"

"Yes. Of course. I can heal, Smart One!"

"I wasn't talking physically, Ray."

"Oh... Yeah. I'm fine." Aiden saw into my mind and saw that it was the truth. He didn't see why, though. So he was awfully confused. he furrowed his brows together in confusion and paused for a minute before asking another question.

"Did he..."

"No. You guys came in time to stop that from happening."

"Why did you start running? You should have been more careful!"

"Why did it take you guys so long to realize I was missing?" I retorted. Aiden sighed.

"We had to go to our world."

"While I was in danger? What the hell! thought you were my friends." My happiness was quickly fading away and, although I desperately didn't want it to go, my temper was getting in the way. I really need to start controlling my temper...

"It wasn't by choice, Ray. We came as soon as we could."

"Whatever." I walked away from them and started pacing outside. Ok, ok ok. I can deal without happiness. Oh who was I kidding? That was the best I had felt since that... never mind Cut off that thought right then. It was the greatest feeling I had had in years. That was as far detail as I was going.

So how was I going to get it back? What had spurted it in the first place? My temper had gotten in the way before I could fully figure it out. Temper, temper, temper. I really needed to stop thinking these things out, honestly. They were probably listening n.

But I was safe now right? I could run away? "I wouldn't suggest that."

"Whatever Aiden. You worry too much."

"Of course I'm worried! You're the hardest person to keep alive ever, I swear!" I smiled. Oh. So that's what caused it. It was because I...


	21. Chapter 21

~Ray's POV~

All of the lovey-dovey readers have already imagined this entire section of the story up, probably. You're thinking that I'm going to say "I'm happy because I love Aiden!" just like that. Alright, I'll give you guys a bit of a break there. I _was_ thinking things along the lines of _Gosh, Aiden looks so good right now. And he's so sweet. I think I might... _Aiden just gave a little smirk. "How good do I look?"

"Well, you really don't, I guess. Thanks for pointing that mistake out!" Aha! If you can control your thoughts around them, they have no power over you! I had found their weakness. I smiled at Aiden and skipped into the house before he could react. Quite honestly, I hadn't figured out why I was happy all of a sudden. But I had figured out how to make them think I had! They couldn't snoop into my mind anymore. Well, I guess they could. But now I had a weapon!

Take that lovey-dovey readers! Anyways...

Aiden bounced back from it pretty well. He laughed about it and all that. But I did apologize. It was kind of mean. Moral obligation and all of that. They saved my life, I ad to be nice to them. That was the deal. I don't think they liked my thinking, though. I didn't know why I was in such a twisted mood, but I most definitely was.

After a while of me torturing them for a while, I realized that I had gone about five days without sleeping. Whoa. Guess half vampires didn't sleep much, but I was just about dead at that moment. I lied down slowly on the couch, trying not to let the boys know. Right. Because not letting the snoopy vampires who watched my every move that I was sleepy was possible...

"We'll take you home. They're probably worried about you. And we don't have any beds you to sleep in."

"No! There is no way in hell anyone is carrying me or that I'm running. I... I feel dizzy."

"Hmm... That's not good."

"Why?"

"Because vampires don't get sleepy and they don't get dizzy. We're thinking your transformation... isn't done..."

Whoa! I was wide awake now. "What?! You mean there's a chance I'll have to go through that all over again?" All three of the boys winced at the thought, but reluctantly nodded. "Well, has a afhl vampire ever made it this far? Maybe it is done. You don't know!"

"Ray don't be ridiculous. There was a time when half vampires were... well, they sort of ruled over the vampires, actually. We have documentation of what happens. This happened a few times in the records..."

"And what happened?" They all froze. Once again, Ludin was the only one brave enough to answer.

"Well, two things really. One, the second transformation was a lot more painful than the first. A lot of them either went insane or died..."

"And the second?"

"Well, the second possibility pretty much made war break out because they were the most powerful beings ever born..."

"That's great! That's just great! I'm a freak! Either I'll die, go insane, or cause all hell to break loose! That's just great! And I can't believe... Whoa." A sudden head rush came into my head at that point and I clung my hand over my forehead, willing myself to think straight. It didn't work very well as I got dizzier and dizzier before suddenly falling to the floor unconscious.


	22. Chapter 22

~Ray's POV~

I woke up on my bed. My family was surrounding me, practically suffocating me as my mother and father asked questions. "Where were you?"

"What happened?"

"It didn't have anything to do with the murders of those boys in the next street, did it?"

"Calm down! One question at a time."

"Where have you been?"

"I was hanging out at Aiden's house."

"For SEVEN DAYS?!"

I winced at the tone, but nodded. "Yeah..."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I wanted someone to hang out with."

"You're..." They both shook their head, baffled. "You're grounded. Three months." And then they both walked out. Peach just looked at me.

"You were at Aiden's house for five days?"

"Yeah. It was really interesting." Peach's face lit up.

"I was wondering how long it would take!"

"For what?" I was honestly baffled.

"For you to realize that you like boys! Just like I do."

"Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. It was nothing like that! Aiden's a friend. There's no way in hell that I like him."

"Mhm." Peach just smiled smugly. I sighed. I didn't like Aiden. It was ridiculous to say I did. But Peach just wouldn't give up.

"Whatever." It was no point to argue. Sure, Aiden was cute. Sure, he was nice, funny, and... wait, I lost my track of thought. What was my original point?

I was pretty sure that it was that I didn't like him. And I didn't. Not at all. Riiiiight? Better cut off that train of thought real quick. Aiden was probably listening into my thoughts and either way, whether I said yes or no, I was screwed. Either he would get cocky or he would get depressed. And while I didn't want him to have the satisfaction of me saying yes, I would be rather upset to see how he would react if I said no. So, in other words, I was completely crewed.

"I think you guys would be so cute together. He really likes you, maybe even loves you! So I don't think you have to worry about rejection or losing him. I never understood why you shunned boys in the first place. It wasn't like that night had anything to do with them... But it's ok. Because now... Well, maybe you can actually get some normality in your life."

God I hoped so. Wait a second, did Aiden hear that? I heard, in the distance, a faint laugh. God damn it he did.


	23. Chapter 23

~Ray's POV~

As soon as Peach left, Aiden was in my room. I blinked a few times. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to you. You shock me every time."

"Is that the best you can come up with? No wonder I shunned boys."

Aiden laughed. "You're so clever." He started circling me. I closed my eyes as he trailed his fingers through my hair. "You're clever, beautiful, powerful, you're perfect." Aiden laughed again. "You're so perfect. Ray..." He stopped then. I opened my eyes, confused as to what changed. He leaned in and gently put his lips on mine. I stiffened for a second or two, but eventually I gave in and kissed him back.

"Perfect?"

"Absolutely. Everything about you, Ray."

"Are you sure it's not just some spell that half vampires cast upon vampires?" I asked, backing up a few steps. He had told me about the spell, and suddenly the realization had stabbed through me.

"I'm sure." Aiden closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "If it was just a spell I would look at you and see a captor that stole myself. But no, Ray. I see an angel. A goddess. A... A savior. Aiden, my father ordered me to leave you. I was able to refuse him."

He had told me about that too. I took a step back. "But I didn't think it was that deep. Aiden..."

"I'm not afraid, Ray. Not anymore." He appeared in front of me and smiled a dazzling smile. "Finally. Finally I can claim you as mine." With that he pulled me into him. A startling amount of emotion ran through me as he wrapped his arms around me and kissed me. When he pulled back I couldn't help but smile. Maybe I did know why I was happy. Maybe it really was because of this. I intertwined my hands with Aiden's and we sat down together, leaning against either side of the windowsill and looking out over the land.

All of those trees. So beautiful. "If I asked you to, would you run away with me? Out into those trees? Never to come back?"

"You don't want to run away."

"No. Of course not."

"Then why ask?"

"I just want to know if you would."

"Of course I would. But enough about proving such things. Love... it's an emotion. It has to be felt. He appeared behind me and wrapped his arms around me. All of this was so sudden, so different, so... so right. "What do you feel right now?"

"I feel... Oh I don't know Aiden. I just feel different."

"Like you're about to burst?"

I nodded. "And like..."

"Like there's a light shining throughout your body and you can't explain anything anymore?" I nodded again.

"How'd you guess?"

"I didn't. It's what I feel every time I look at you. And the very idea that you feel it too... Ray, it means more to me than you'll ever know." He pulled me closer to him.

"Aiden..." Aiden.


	24. Chapter 24

~Aiden's POV~

Finally. After all of this time, could actually call Ray mine. She was mine. I smiled at the thought, causing the guys to roll their eyes for the hundredth time. "Oh whatever. You just wish you got Ray." They looked at each other and shrugged, knowing that that was true.

"Your sister's here."

"So I heard," I said as my sister's usual announcement of her arrival came into my ears. Oh joy.

"Aiden! I haven't seen you in a while, have I? Well, I just came to say hello and to examine your progress for Dad. Sorry, but he ordered me to do it."

"There's no way in hell that I'm killing her."

"Well, no. Of course not. Dad is actually more curious about her than pissed about it at this point. I think he heard about the not so finished transformation." Everyone in the room stiffened.

"What do you mean not so finished? How the hell did you find out about that?"

"Well, Johnny was able to communicate with Dad before you killed him. And, according to Johnny, she actually slept while he had her captive. Which is, to say the least, unexpected and strange. And so, now, he's really rather curious about her. At least you don't have to kill her now..."

"But he knows what she is..."

"Well... I'm sorry Bro. If there was anything I could do to help, I'd do it in a heartbeat." She looked at me expectantly, hoping I had a plan. She really did want me to be happy. Guess sisters, no matter how much they annoy you, still have that whole love thing binding you to them. "Oh look! There she is now!" And, sure enough, Ray walked in.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be grounded?"

"Well... Yeah... but I'm bored! Honestly, the only person I've talked to in weeks is my sister! Ugh! So... I ran away momentarily." And then, suddenly, she realized that Rina was here. "Oh! You're Aiden's sister, right?"

"Yeah. I'm Rina, and you're Ray."

"Yep." An awkward silence fell between the two.

Rina blocked us and started looking at Ray, probably talking to her. We couldn't hear either of them. I sighed. "Really, Sis? You've been here five minutes and you're already keeping secrets?"

"It's not secrets! It's a conversation and know you'll be snooping in our minds if I don't do something!" With that, she took Ray by the arm and practically dragged her outside. Ray took one look back at me before following Rina outside.

"What do you think they're talking about?"

"I don't think I want to know, honestly." Ludin and Cayden nodded in agreement. I looked at the closed door with narrowed eyes. What was Rina up to?


	25. Chapter 25

~Ray's POV~

Ok, Aiden's sister honestly scared me at this point. _You hurt my brother, and I suck every drop of blood out of that pretty little body of yours. Got it?_

My face became even paler than usual as I nodded in agreement. Pretty much, the entire conversation we were having was her passing on things I should never do along with their... consequences... _Good. And if our Father ever gets a hold of you... Run. Or it won't be me you have to worry about. _Again, I nodded as my face became even paler.

_Are you done threatening me? I'd like to get back to Aiden... _At least he was nice.

_I heard that._

_God damn it! _She laughed out loud this time. Slowly, I felt the walls confining my mind release me. "Nice talking with you, Ray. Now that we've got all of that straightened out, we can be great friends!" Psycho. She narrowed her eyes. "I heard that."

"You were supposed to," I said, smiling as I skipped into the house. Aiden hadn't taken his eyes off of the door, apparently, because he was still staring at it until I stepped in. "Hey guys!"

Aiden immediately ran in front of me and kissed me lightly. The other boys coughed uncomfortably. "Oh shut up!" Aiden said, smiling. "Let me have my moment."

"Aiden..." I whispered. I leaned in close, being sure to control my thoughts. "You are so..." I leaned in closer before pulling back suddenly, "Pathetic! Honestly, the nerve of you, Aiden." I smiled mischievously at him to show him it wasn't really meant to insult him. And then I switched targets. "You're almost as bad as Ludin! Hoenstly!"

"Hey!"

"What? You going to tell Peach on me?" Ludin opened his mouth and closed it a few times, dumbfounded. "Thought so, Mr. Fish," I said, noting the way his mouth opening and closing looked a bit like a fish out of water. Cayden let out a small laugh. Ah! Time to switch targets again. "Oh stop laughing, Cayden. Everyone knows that you would love a fish. In fact..." I ran up to them as they glared at me. "I now pronounce you man and fish."

"I like her, Aiden. She's rather funny." Ok, good mood over. I ran out of the room, egtting as far away as I could from that nightmare. Rina. Yeah, I officially was declaring war on all siblings.

Aiden was bugging me within the minute. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing. I just got bored," I said, smiling. Aiden rose his eyebrows at me. "OK. So maybe your sister is a bit..."

"Violent. Scary. Threatening. And yet extremely hyper which only makes her all the more intimidating."

"Well... yeah."

"You get used to it after a while." I nodded.

"She's rather creative with her threats, though." Aiden laughed.

"She most definitely can be. She once told me if I didn't get her the doll she wanted she was going to put me in a room with our mother for an hour. That was about the worst case scenario I could imagine, really."

"What happened to your mother?"

"She dies. A long time ago."

"Oh... Sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No. Don't worry about it. Our mother was a nightmare. All she ever did was talk about our father. She was an empty shell, really. She did whatever he asked and always talked about what an angel he was." Aiden rolled his eyes. Something sparked up in my curiosity.

"How old are you?"

"That's not important."

"Yeah it is!"

"Fine. I'm 512 years old." Whoa. That's not old at all... note the sarcasm.

"Cool." Aiden smiled.

"I'm kidding! I'm only seventy or so years old. All three... well, four including Rina, of us are relatively young."

"Oh." That's much better


	26. Chapter 26

~Ray's POV~

I sighed as I sank into Aiden's chest. For once, we were alone. And we were taking full advantage of that. Not like that, you pervs! Our clothes were on!

I started absentmindedly tracing the lines surrounding Aiden's abs as we talked. We were having a completely random conversation, but we didn't really need a specific topic at the moment. We had no feelings to express that hadn't already been conveyed. Our very blood was showing how we felt. There was no need to put it into words.

I rested my head on his chest. "You're not going to find a heartbeat."

I smiled. "I know, Silly. But your chest is very comfy." I closed my eyes and let out a small sigh of contentment as we continued back on our random conversation. Our fingers started finding each other on their own and we both settled down and closed our eyes slightly.

And then it all came crashing down. The door slammed open and Rina came rushing in. "Aiden!" She slowed down about a second before she would have crashed into us. "We've got a problem."

"What is it?" Her mind wouldn't explain anything. It was just a jumble of random thoughts as her mind started going rapidly through everything. "Calm down, Rina. What happened?"

"I- But- He ordered me to tell him, Aiden. You have to know that." Aiden immediately stiffened.

"He ordered you to tell him what?"

"Everything about her, Aiden. And... Well... He's not so curious about her anymore... he's kind of..."

"What? What is it, Rina?" Aiden was completely panicked at this point. he wasn't doing the best job at calming her down.

"He wants her, Aiden. Badly. He wants her on his side and... probably by his side..."

"WHAT?!!!"

"I'm sorry Aiden! I'm sorry! What are we going to do?"

"We're going to..." Everyone in the room froze. What could we do? What could possibly stop the vampire king from getting what he wanted? Was that even possible?

"I'll run." Aiden shook his head.

"He'll track us down if we run."

"It's not going to be us, Aiden. It's going to be me. You could run somewhere else, maybe. To throw him off."

"No. I'm not leaving you, Ray. No matter what the consequences?"

"Well then what do you propose we do?"

"I don't know." Aiden paused as something different set into his facial expressions. "But I'm going to figure it out." With that, Aiden stood up, took my hand, and dragged me out of the room.


	27. Chapter 27

Ray's POV~

The school had their jaws on the floor as Aiden and I walked around. Even if we were only talking about how to get away from Aiden's father, I think they noticed how things had changed.

"We've got to split, Aiden. You're pretty much the person he's going to track down! We've got no chance together."

"But we can't split up. If he finds you and I'm not there... Ray there'll be no one in the way of him getting exactly what he wants."

"I'll be in the way! Aiden, I can take care of myself. I'm half vampire. I am ust as strong and fast as you, maybe even more!"

"I don't care Ray. He can still order you to come with him and you'll have no choice. That's why I have to be there. He can't order me around when it comes to you."

"But-"

"No. Ray I'm going to be with you no matter what."

"Aiden that's ridiculous."

"It doesn't matter. I'm never leaving you." Oh, Aiden. What was going to happen to us? We were doomed, weren't we?

Knowing that we were doomed, school was agonizingly long and slow. As soon as we got to my house, I ran to my room and circled around it a few times. This was most likely the last time I would ever see it. And the last time I would ever see my family.

"Ray! Come on! Mom and Dad bought a new movie and it is so funny! We're all going to watch it together!" I smiled and ran after Peach. Things would probably be a lot different soon. I was doomed. I could only hope that they recovered from my disappearance quickly. But at the moment I was content to hang out with my family and soak up all that I could of it.

"I'm grounded, aren't I?"

"We're giving you a break."

"Sweet! Love you guys." With that, we all plopped onto the couch and watched the movie. We laughed together and afterwards we talked for hours. It was the first non-vulgar conversation I had had with them in a long time. A refreshing change. It was such a god night.

Things would be so different soon. I wondered what the vampire king would make of me. And what he would make of his obstacle: his own son. Things were going to be very interesting very soon. But things were so good with my family. For once, I felt like an actual person as I sank into my bed.

Aiden appeared on my bed and wrapped his arms around me. "Things are going to be so different soon."

"Stop thinking like that."

"But they are, Aiden. We're doomed."

"Don't say that."

"I don't have to say it for it to be true."

"Don't say it."

"Ok. Ok." But we were... We were...


	28. Chapter 28

~Aiden's POV~

I trailed my fingers across Ray's hand and looked at her face. Even as she smiled at me, I knew how sad she was. She had figured out long ago that there was no way we would escape. She had already figured out we were doomed, despite how desperately I fought to keep her in the dark. Not necessarily in the dark, that wording makes it sound horrible. But I hated seeing her sad.

"So when do you think he'll come get us?" I froze.

"You've got to stop saying things like that, Ray. We'll get through this."

"You and I both know we won't, Aiden. Stop pretending we'll make it out of this." She talked about it so casually. It broke my heart to know that she had already accepted that she would most likely spend her entire existence being a slave to my father. "Aiden?"

"Yeah?"

"I think-" Before she could finish, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and an ear-splitting scream sounded through the entire room. I watched, paralyzed, as she fell onto the floor.

Ludin and Cayden appeared in the room within seconds. "The second transformation," we all realized in unison. I swiftly took Ray's shaking hand into mine and started whispering encouragements in her ear. As soon as I started speaking to her, her screams lessened slightly and she relaxed more. She was going through agonizing pain. It was horrifying.

Suddenly, she squeezed my hand harder than before and arched her back, letting out a huge scream that seemed to fill the entire city. After that final scream, she fell limp in my arms. Ludin, Cayden, and I shared a horrified look for a full minute, too afraid to do anything. "Why isn't she moving at all?" Ludin suddenly asked. We all looked at Ray's limp form. "She isn't..." Ludin gulped instead of actually saying the word, "is she?"

"No. She can't be." Even as I said that, looking at Ray: limp, not breathing, pale, she really did look... dead.


	29. Chapter 29

~Ray's POV~

I bolted into an upright position and looked around. Normally, after all that pain, something would be left over. I guess I really was half vampire now, because I felt nothing of the sort. I didn't feel dizzy, I wasn't aching at all, nothing. I felt like I could jump up and do whatever I wanted. I felt better. Faster. Stronger.

As soon as I sat up, all of the boys' faces shot up. Apparently they hadn't been expecting me to wake up. All of their eyes flashed from depression to absolutely beaming in a millisecond. It was funny how suddenly, I was sure it was a millisecond. I was sure of everything. My senses and instincts screamed out to me, giving me the answer to whatever I wanted to know.

Aiden ran over to me and wrapped his arms around my back within a half a second. Again, it astounded me. Not only was I now able to actually see the running he did without any trouble and it didn't look like he teleported anymore, but I knew the exact time it took for him to reach me. "You're ok."

"Yeah. I'm ok." Our conversation was cut off when a portal appeared. Immediately, I knew that Aiden's father had finally come. "What's he like?"

"You don't want to know." We all backed up a few steps as Aiden's father stepped out. Remembering about the spell, I automatically looked down within a millisecond. I couldn't let him see my face. That would only make him want me even more than he already did.

"Hello, everybody!" boomed the deep voice. There were two pairs of feet. Rina was with him.

"I'm sorry, Aiden." By the sound of her voice, Rina was miserable about this. She shifted her feet every 1.32 seconds, trying to get over her misery with the situation.

"Don't be ridiculous! You have nothing to be ashamed of, Rina. Ray needs supervision." Wthin a hundredth of a second, I saw his feet in front of me. "I'm Orion," he said, putting a hand out for me to shake. Obediently, I took his hand and gave it a small shake. "Now come. All of you." I gasped as the command sounded. I gasped because, suddenly, a certain pressure acted on me and my body acted of its own accord to follow him.

"What's going on?" I whispered, taking Aiden's hand behind our backs so Orion couldn't see. "What is this?"

"This is the reason my father loves being king. You remember what I told you about when he gives an order."

"I didn't think it would feel like this. This feels so... so unnatural!"

"In a way, it is. No one can explain why it happens or anything about it. But one thing's sure. It's there. And it's not going to go away any time soon." We walked through the portal and everything faded away before being replaced with a completely different scenery. The palace, I supposed. It was very strange. It was all black. I liked it, though. And it immediately felt like I had been here my whole life, even if it had only been a moment.

"Welcome home," Orion announced. "Now, Aiden, Cayden, Ludin, and Rina, go to your rooms." I picked up immediately on how he deliberately made it a command and not an invitation, making sure they had no choice but to leave me. "Ray, follow me." Another command. I fought him every step of the way, but my body wouldn't stop following him. This wasn't good...


	30. Chapter 30

~Ray's POV~

Orion started ranting about- wait for it- absolutely nothing. It had the illusion of being something, but nope. Nothing whatsoever. He was concocting something in some thick glass cup. I had no idea. But I knew pretty well that seeing as he ordered me to sit and stay for a while, I was pretty much glued to the spot.

He shoved the glass under my nose. It was a pink liquid, that when smelled made me cringe my nose. I pulled back. "No. Drink it." Well, couldn't exactly fight that. I grasped the cup and downed every single drop.

~Aiden's POV~

The thing with my father is that, after dong whatever he ordered you to do for so long, you figured out ways to get out of them. He would have to be very specific to stop you from escaping.

Like when he ordered us to go to our rooms. The problem with that order was that a specific increment of time to stay within the confines of our rooms was not given. As soon as I made it through the doorway, I turned around and walked right back out. I had to get to Ray. I had no clue what he was going to do to her.

When I got to the room where Ray and my father were, it had already been a full minute. In the vampire world, that was long enough to do some serious damage. I burst into the door and took in the scene. Ray was unconscious. There was only one way to get a vampire unconscious: a potion. I looked at the cup laying sideways on the floor next to the bed Ray was set on and saw a single drop of pink liquid drip down.

Love potions. They aren't even technically love potions, in my opinion. They're more toy potions, in a sense. They become your toy. They'll do whatever you ask with enthusiasm and their entire life revolves around lusting after you. It isn't love. It's monstrous. And whoever was the first man Ray saw when she woke up would be her "owner."

"You didn't!"

"Aiden, leave." The command immediately took effect and I ran out of the room before running back in to where Ray was. He couldn't get to me when I was holding her." "Aiden-"

"You and I both know that as long as I'm holding her, I can refuse any order you give me so save your breath." His entire face was consumed with anger. This was not the way he planned things going.

Before he could respond, Ray's eyes opened. She smied as she looked at the fact that I was holding her and giggled. "Hi Aiden." She giggled and I rolled my eyes. Ray had officially become the last person put under a love potion: my mother. Luckily, the love potion was only temporary and there was no way in hell my father would be able to give her constant doses like he originally planned on doing. I just had to wait it out.

My father was quite angry. "Ray, come."

"Gladly!" Ray exclaimed, jumping up and giving him a huge hug. She beamed at him and took his hand. Both of us looked at each other and then looked at Ray.

"She couldn't have seen..."

"Both?"

"impossible."

"Ray?"

"Yeah, Aiden?" Ray loked at her feet with a small smile as she shifted them and giggled as she looked at me. She was absolutely smitten. But, by her reaction to my father, she had seen him too.

"Father, I don't think it's impossible." We both looked at Ray for a second or two, trying to determine whether the impossible had really happened.

Apparently it had. And there was no way I was letting my father take advantage of it. I ran over, picked Ray up, and ran to my room. Ray snuggled into my chest, hitting me straight in the heart with the gravity of the situation. This wasn't Ray. This was some spell. hated this.

I pulled back and Ray looked at me with a shocked and hurt expression. "Not until this potion wears off, ok?" Her face immediately became submissive as she nodded, even though it was clear she wanted desperately to ignore me. I hated that even more. Ray was never submissive. She did what she wanted. This wasn't Ray. This was an empty shell.


	31. Chapter 31

~Ray's POV~

My thoughts went along something like this:_Aiden. Orion. Aiden. Orion. Aiden. Orion._

I followed Aiden around like a puppy. Only this puppy had two owners. And whenever the other owner came around, she became rather confused. "Do come with me, Ray!" This puppy would start looking between owner number one and owner number two helplessly for about ten minutes before finally deciding which one to follow, leaving the other owner in a flurry of anger.

Unfortunately, Orion had a better chance of being picked in realty. He a) could order me, and b) was actually willing to satisfy my sudden craving for physical contact.

_Aiden. Orion. Aiden. Orion. Aiden. Orion A- oo, Aiden looks so cute. _I was watching absentmindedly as Aiden zoned out. His hair was actually glowing a bit in the dim light, which only increased my obsessive need for him. And yet, my mind was also railing over Orion. My life was so confusing at that point.

Orion opened the door and gestured for me to come with him. I looked briefly at Aiden to make sure he wouldn't know and snuck away with Orion, absolutely beaming as I looked at Orion. He was so powerful and commanding. He knew what he wanted and took it. It amazed me. It dazzled me. It shouldn't have, but it made him a god in my eyes. That potion was really getting into my head.

He opened the door to his room and I followed him in. My eyes widened slightly at both the luxury of the room and the very fact that I was in it. I was honestly not sure if I was really ready for what he undoubtedly wanted. But I was under a potion. It wasn't like I would put up much of a fight.

He placed me on the bed and we made out for a while. (O.O I made out with Aiden's DAD...) But then he started trailing down. I froze for a while and he looked at me. "I'm not sure if I'm really ready for that," I said, sitting up.

"But I want it so badly." Immediately, I nodded and let him resume kissing him. I still didn't want to do this. I hated this. But Orion wanted it and I had become completely submissive towards whatever Orion wanted. Yeah. Things were looking great.

Luckily, before things had gotten too bad, Aiden burst through the door. He had his father pinned to the wall by the throat within moments. I looked on wide-eyed. Aiden. Orion. I couldn't fight Aiden, but I couldn't let Orion get hurt. Before I could actually decide on what to do, I felt a slight pain in the back of my head.


	32. Chapter 32

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

~Ray's POV~

I was unconscious. But i could see perfectly fine. The scene I was seeing was not Aiden and Orion. It was actually a giant room. It was full of a slight white glow. It was kind of creepy. I had no idea what was going on.

And then I saw them. My parents. My real ones, not my adopted ones. I froze. "B- B- But you're dead."

"Well, yeah. But we were so curious. We shouldn't have done it. But we couldn't resist. We've never even met you!" She started crying and ran over to hug me. I tried to comprehend this.

"Which one of you is the vampire anyways?"

"I am." She was beautiful. Certainly beautiful enough to be a vampire. I wasn't really too surprised. Although, my father was a pretty good looking human. It was so weird looking at them. I didn't even know them. What was I supposed to say?

"How am I here? Where is here? Why am I here? I don't understand."

"Well there are lots of reasons why we brought you. Admittedly, we're being a bit selfish. You're supposed to be down there, but we can't stand it. Not necessarily for our sake completely, but what is going to happen is horrible."

"What are you talking about?"

"Sweetheart, there's so much... So much to tell you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I can't stand it, Richard! I can't let her-"

"What's going on here? Is everything alright? And- what is she doing here? Richard! Mariana! How dare you do this! Her fate has been decided! You can't just stop it!"

"What the hell are you all talking about!" The man who had barged in touched my forehead and everything started to fade away as a slight pain started nagging me in the back of my head. I closed my eyes to block out the pain and when it finally faded away, I opened them again. Except I wasn't in wherever I was before. I was back in the room.

I had thought maybe my falling unconscious was the spell being broken, but as soon as I was back in the room the thoughts started again. _Aiden. Orion. Aiden. Orion. _I started shaking my head slightly, fighting the spell. It didn't work. My thoughts were taken over again.

Aiden was hovering over me. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"So the spell's broken?"

"Well... no. I don't really understand what happened." I started running over it in my head. Was it a dream? Was it real? What was going on? I quickly hid all of those thoughts away before Aiden or Orion could hear them. I didn't want them worried! Everything in my mind revolved around making them happy. I couldn't let them know I was kind of creeped out.

"Come on. Let's go." Aiden dragged me out of the room. I looked over my shoulder at Orion, who I desperately wanted to please, but I couldn't make him happy without disappointing Aiden. I couldn't stand this. I wanted the spell off of me. Now. But in the same sense I didn't. The spell gave me some unnaturally happy state. As long as one of them was happy, I was happy too. I relished the happy feeling. But the cost of it, possibly losing Aiden, wasn't good. I didn't know what I want. And I didn't understand what had just happened. I was so confused. "You ok?"

"Yeah!" No.


End file.
